Sowing the Seeds

With little to no access to funds, transport, education or job security, members of the community often need to make ends meet in the most creative ways, and that's exactly what Renshia Manuel did when she founded GrowBox

- MARIAN VOLKWYN

Renshia Manuel founded the social enterprise GrowBox Nursery to empower marginalised communities on the Cape Flats by teaching people how to grow their own crops. In areas like Hanover Park, where the nursery is located, poverty often leads to hardship and crime.

Back in 2016, Renshia found herself in a situation that is rather familiar to many young people in Hanover Park: unemployed and experiencing extreme difficulty finding employment. She had made tons of copies of her CV, dropped them off at stores and even made her way into industrial areas, hopeful for an opportunity, but the doors were just not opening for her.

Although those were trying times, she used her go-getter attitude and growth mindset to transform her experience into an opportunity to empower herself. This was a pivotal point in Renshia's story, as she knew that she had to create an opportunity for herself and her three kids who were relying on her.

From Garden to Table

Out of sheer frustration with her unsuccessful attempts to enter the job market, Renshia began a vegetable garden in her backyard. She grew spinach, cabbage, pumpkins, beetroot and peas from seed. Her vegetable garden became the Manuel family's livelihood, as they were living off the goods produced by the soil on their property.

Renshia's love affair with nature and gardening began when she was a child. During the school holidays, she would be sent to Robertson, where her paternal family originates. Her family, whom she holidayed with in the heart of the wine route, inhabited space on the farms where they were labourers. Each labouring family had huge allotments in front of their homes where they could grow for their own consumption. The farmers would give them the farmhouse and the space in front for them to grow their own,' recalls Renshia as she reminisces about her childhood.